thaw

This new body of work explores the expressive power of human posture. I have chosen to limit my ‘verb' base of gestures to gain deeper understanding of a specific set of emotions. This economy of range enables me to highlight how emotions are carried by the subtlest of posturing.

These works refer to a period of my life that was one of introspection, withdrawal and discovery, of which the majority were executed while in this state. Underlying that period was a new found strength that carried great sorrow but also celebrated life and the sense of self.

I found the most direct way to deal with such issues was through my own body. This enabled me to have more control over the postures during the photographing of the reference material. As I moved from one position to the next I was very aware of the emotional tugs each gesture carried. Then during the painting of the works I was able to revisit those positions and the appropriate triggers, which would come into play. As autobiographical as this may sound I see these works as social comments, emotional states that are indicative of human nature.

The other ‘subject' in this exhibition is that of my love affair with paint. Within each brush mark, each line, each glaze etc. is a potential emotion. As with my quest to listen with acute awareness to the emotional vocabulary of a posture so are my concerns with the painterly application of pigment and medium. I endeavoured to paint each work in a manner that echoed the emotional tugs of the figure. This led to tonal changes, some areas of the body being highlighted with varied attention to detail, mark application, colour choices and varying thickness of paint.

The relationship between the emotional and physical construction of the body, with paint as a tool of exploration is a growing concern of mine. I am fascinated by the co-habitation of the emotional and physical under the guise of the human. One does not exist in isolation. This co-existence provides the most fertile fodder for the artist, which I am only starting to understand.